dinnerparty
a-go-gohow to
have a last-minute dinner party
by Yee-Fan Sun|1 23

Every
good host I know harbors a little bit of the inner control freak. We
first start having folks over because privately, though we're far too
gracious to admit it out loud, we think we do it better than most. And
in our secret egomaniacal delusion, we develop a certain tyrannical idea
of what ingredients absolutely have to be in place for any gathering to
be a success. The food, the drinks, the décor, the music, the overall
vibe… it's a formula that not everyone seems able to master. The only
way to ensure all the parts come together the way we like it is, of
course, to play host ourselves. Being a great host, however, is a little
like being cool: try too hard and you're pretty much doomed to failure.
Which is why I'm of the opinion that every aspiring party-thrower should
get into the habit of throwing impromptu dinner parties on a fairly
regular basis.

No matter how much you like to
have every little thing under your firm control, you'll never really
have fun at your own parties until you learn to let loose a bit -- and
when it comes to learning to go with the flow, spontaneous gatherings
provide the best crash course. Without the luxury of days or weeks to
obsess over the details, you learn that the food doesn't have to be
elaborate, the drinks don't have to be fancy, and the house doesn't have
to be magazine-perfect when your guests walk in the door. Last-minute
dinner parties are a great lesson in what really matters when it comes
to playing host: making sure that everyone, including you, can kick
back, relax, and have a great time.

So the next Friday you find
yourself with a free evening awaiting you, call up a handful of your
favorite folks for a last-minute dinner and hang-out chez vous. In the
meantime, check out these tips on how to have a dinner party on a whim
without totally stressing yourself out in the process…

1
Don't wait till you're standing in the middle of the produce section at
your friendly neighborhood supermarket, waiting to find inspiration.
Plan out your shopping trip. Decide what you're going to make for
dinner, make a list of all the ingredients you'll need, then head to the
market. And don't let yourself get distracted once you're in the store;
pick up everything that you need as quickly as possible, then move on.

2
When it comes to the menu, stick with the tried and true. I'm all for
testing out new recipes on friends -- after all, where's the fun in
cooking up an exciting new dish for just me and the boy? -- but the
combination of new recipe and very limited time is just a disaster
waiting to happen.